Waterproof and fireproof floor construction



lFeb. 18, 0 BOWMAN WATERPROOF AND FIREPROOF FLOOR CONSTRUCTION FiledFeb. 27, 1952 Patented Feb. 18, 1936 UNETED STATES were PATENT FFIQEWATERPROOF AND FIREPROOF FLOOR CONSTRUCTION 5 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in both resilient and rigid hardsurfaced fireproof and waterproof floor construction.

It is often necessary to build floors, some of which are insidebuildings and some of which are exposed to the elements which must havesuch a construction that they will be both Waterproof and fireproof.

It is also desirable to be able to build floors on wooden supports whichhave a hard waterproof and fireproof surface; but with a reasonabledegree of resilience.

It is the object of this invention to produce a floor construction ofthe type indicated which shall be simple and substantial and which canbe tion to its fireproof and waterproof characteristics, shall also beslightly yielding so as to resemble a wooden fioor in regard to itsflexing characteristics.

The above objects are attained by means of a construction and anarrangement of parts that will now be described in detail, and for thispurpose reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which twoembodiments of the invention have been illustrated, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a fioor constructed on a concrete slab orbase in accordance with this invention, portions being removed to bettershow the construction;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of one of the separator strips employed inthis construction;

Fig. i is a transverse section of a separator strip showing the sameprovided with a different kind of anchoring meansvfor the floor blocks;

Fig. 5 is a section similar to that shown in Fig. 4 and shows anotheranchoring means; and

Fig. 6 is a transverse section showing a slightly modified form ofconstruction which is used when the floor is supported on a wooden base.

In Fig. 2 reference numeral represents a concrete base or support onwhich the fioor is laid. This base is part of the fireproof constructionof a building. When the fioor is put in place, the upper surface of theconcrete support is first inopped with hot asphalt so as to provide alayer 2 of this material. After the asphalt has been put in place, alayer of resilient fibrous material 3 which may be cellotex, masonite orsimilar types of artificial board construction is placed on the asphalt.The upper surface of the fibrous material is now coated with hot asphaltso as to (or. ca-a) provide a layer 4, and secured to this layer is alayer 5 of tarred felt. The upper surface of the felt is now coveredwith a layer of hot asphalt,

after which separator strips 1 are put in place. The separator stripsare made of sheet metal and have upwardly extending edges provided atspaced intervals with notches 8. The lower edge of each strip isprovided with alternate lugs 8 that form feet on which the strip rests.When these strips are put into place, the lugs 9 adhere to the asphaltand hold the strips in place. The strips extend at right angles toeachother as shown in Fig. 1 and provide rectangular spaces for thereception of the floor material which is preferably some Portland cementmixture and which has been designated by reference numeral iii. Thecement is poured into the compartments while it is in plastic conditionand will harden in place. The cement blocks are anchored to the floorconstruction, first, by means of the asphalt to'which they adhere, andthen when strips like those shown in Fig. 3 are employed, cement willextend through the openings H and form anchoring lugs. When strips likethat shown in Fig. 4 are used, the projections l2 take the place of theopenings H and serve to anchor the blocks in place. While, when themodification shown in Fig. 5 is employed, the corrugation l3 serves thefunction of opening II and part H.

In Fig. 6 the fireproof floor has been shown as supported on a woodenfloor construction, comprising joists It and fioor boards 15. When thisconstruction is used, the fibrous material 3 is dispensed with and theasphalt layer t is applied directly to the upper surface of the fioorboards. Located on the upper surface of the asphalt 4, a layer of tarredfelt 5 may be laid, which is covered with a layer 6 of asphalt to whichthe separating strips are attached in the manner above described. Theconcrete blocks it are moulded in place in the same manner explained incon.- nection with the construction above described. The floorconstruction shown in Fig. 6 is resilient, due to the fact that thejoists will bend slightly when subjected to a weight, and therefore theresilient layer 3 has been omitted, because the function of thisresilient layer of fibrous material is to give resilience to the floorconstruction. Where very heavy service is contemplated the resilientlayer 3 may also be omitted from the concrete slab thus producing asubstantially rigid floor. When the surface of the supporting floor I5is smooth and hard, the layer of felt 5 and the asphalt layer 5 can beomitted and the separator strips seated in the asphalt layer 4.

It will be readily seen from the above description that a floorconstructed in accordance with this invention is entirely waterproofbecause the several layers of asphalt prohibit the water from enteringand passing through the floor and it can therefore be exposed to theelements without danger of deleterious effects.

The construction shown. and described above is very simple and floorsmade in accordance with the method outlined can be cheaply installed andwhen in place will give excellent satisfaction and resist the action ofwater in addition to being fireproof. The construction shown in Fig. 6is semifireproof and can be used where such constructions are permitted.The concrete 1 may be composed of terrazzo or other aggregate which canbe ground and polished. The resilient layer 3 as Well as the felt strip5, can be made of asbestos or other nondecaying material, if desired.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. A floor construction comprising, a base, a layer of felt secured tothe upper surface of the base by an asphalt adhesive, the upper surfaceof the felt having a coating of asphalt, separator strips having theirlower edges sealed in the asphalt coating on the upper surface of thefelt, and blocks of cementitious material formed in place between theseparator strips.

2. A fireproof and waterproof floor construction comprising a rigidsupporting base, a layer of asphalt on the upper surface of the base, alayer of resilient fibrous material supported on the asphalt layer andsecured to the base by the latter, a coating of asphalt on the uppersurface of the fibrous material, a layer of felt on the upper surface ofthe last named asphalt layer, the upper surface of the felt having acoating of asphalt, separator strips having their lower edges embeddedin the asphalt and held in place thereby and cementitious material inthe space between the strips.

3. A floor construction comprising, a supporting base, a coating ofasphalt on the upper surface thereof and separator strips having theirlower edges embedded in the asphalt which serves as an adhesive forholding them in place.

4. A resilient, waterproof hard surface floor, comprising resilientjoists, sheeting attached to the joists, asphalt on the sheeting, felton the asphalt, asphalt coating on the felt, separator strips embeddedin the asphalt, and cementitious material in the compartments formed bythe strips, and anchored by means of the asphalt and strips.

5. Terrazzo flooring comprising a sub-floor, a cushion coating ofplastic material engaging the sub-floor, substantially vertical dividerstrips held in desired positions by the cushion coating, and terrazzotopping engaging the plastic coating between the divider strips.

OLIVER S. BOWMAN.

